York’s hopes of automatic promotion from the National League were dealt an apparently terminal blow with a 2-1 defeat against Braintree.

City went into the weekend 11 points behind Barnet and knowing they could not afford any more slip-ups.

But they fell behind in the 25th minute as veteran John Akinde fired in from outside the box.

Josh Stones levelled from a corner in the 35th minute but Jermaine Francis came off the bench to win the match with virtually his first touch 24 minutes from time.